Gnarled Plum Tree
Sold – no longer available
This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.
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Details about the sold piece
- Height 193 cm
- Width 40 cm
- Item Type Kakemono
- Jikusaki Wood
- Material Honshi Paper
- Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
- Technique Hand-Painted
- Unique Work Yes
No longer available
Description
Against a pale, barely washed background rises a gnarled, old plum tree, its twisted trunk telling of the traces of many years. Delicate red blossoms set luminous accents along the sparingly drawn branches, while at the foot of the tree a small figure with a straw hat and walking stick pauses, as if contemplating the first harbingers of spring.
The plum tree, which blooms already in the depths of winter, has long been regarded in Japan as a symbol of endurance, resilience, and quiet new beginnings after times of hardship. The gnarled, almost sculptural form of the trunk stands in appealing contrast to the delicacy of the blossoms, lending the composition a particular tension between hardness and fragility.
The restrained, expansive pictorial composition with much open space gives the motif calm and breath, entirely in the spirit of classical Japanese ink painting. Mounted on light-colored fabric with a narrow border, the kakemono dates from the Shôwa period and makes a stylish companion through the spring months.
